Can someone explain to me the benefit of training with irons if my plan is to put an RDS on the rifle? Wouldn't it be better to train on an RDS?
It would be like telling someone "oh, you want a Glock? Get a lot of practice with a Ruger LCR so you can shoot good with the Glock."
starting with a basic rifle until you learn to handle it well is a much better idea than changing out and adding a bunch of stuff to a rifle platform that you have no experience with. you can't become proficient with a firearm by reading on a forum.
I said in the OP I have little experience, not no experience.
No, but I can get advice from reading a forum, and luckily I know which advice to follow. I'm not planning on having a rifle that will cook my pizza and call my grandmother on tuesday. I have very specific reasons for wanting what I do...
A red dot for target acquisition (you can say an RDS doesn't help here...but you'd be lying or grossly misinformed). Yes, I have used a pistol caliber AR with the standard A2 sights and with a red dot, so I know first-hand the difference. Yes, irons are just as accurate. Accuracy isn't what I'm trying to improve by getting an RDS.
A Magpul AFG for comfort. Because I've tried both the standard grip and a VFG, and found the AFG to be more comfortable than both. Are you going to tell me that ergonomics is a mall-ninja trait?
A flashlight for target identification. Which is recommended by pretty much anyone. For those who say "how are you going to keep the light on?" please, actually use a weaponlight (I only bring it up because someone mentioned it earlier that I need a spare hand for the light).
I've had several people answer the actual question in this post. To those people: thanks. To those who are going off on tangents that have nothing to do with the OP, and then assuming that because I didn't bring it up in the OP I obviously have no clue what it is: do you feel mighty enough now?